Physical - Langston

Jayla was hungry. She needed lunch. But, there was one more physical left to do before she did that. She checked the schedule and saw another familiar name: Felix Langston. She grinned, remembering the cheerful and optimistic pilot. True, she hadn't had many interactions with him, but she liked him.

While she waited for him to arrive, she organized her equipment back into its correct places.

Felix sat in awe of the enormous waiting room attached to sick bay. He had almost gotten lost on his way to the new medical area. The caduceuses adorning the walls served as a reminder that he was in the right place. He stretched out his feet and folded his hands behind his head, taking it all in.

Just as he leaned back to relax, a young nurse came in to greet him. A smile lit up her blue skinned face as she cheerily notified Felix of his impending appointment. "Good day, Lieutenant Langston," she said, "you're right on schedule. The doctor will see you now."

"Lead on, young miss," Felix said as he smiled back. He stretched further and immediately jumped to his feet, following the cheery nurse as she led him through the doorway into Sick Bay proper. Felix looked around in awe as the doors whooshed open to reveal the enormous new Medical area.

Jayla was watching from the doorway of one of the exam rooms as the nurse approached with Felix in tow. "Hello, Lieutenant Langston," she said with an almost mechanical smile. "Impressive, isn't it?"

Langston smiled back at the cheery Trill. "Incredible!" he said while looking around, "I don't think I've ever seen anything quite as nice as this, even on Dad's ship." He turned his attention back to the doctor. "I bet you're liking this new posting quite a bit."

She nodded. "It's nice, yeah," she said, glancing around at main Sick Bay. "You should see some of the equipment we've got. The monitors alone are pretty cool. Anyway come on in and we'll get started."

"Aye, Doc," Felix said as he followed the doctor through the cavernous new Sick Bay. He took a look at the equipment the doctor mentioned earlier. It really was quite impressive.

"So, Doc," he said absentmindedly, "you doing okay?"

"I'm all right," she replied. "Just trying to get the hang of being on a ship again. I think I got used to be planetside in the past two months. Sit right up here," she added, indicating the biobed they approached.

"Sure thing," Felix said as he hopped onto the indicated biobed. He leaned forward, resting his palms on the edge of the bed, feet hanging down. "What did you do for shore leave?"

"Went home to Trill to visit my family," she replied. "And I went to see a counselor at the Symbiosis Commission. It was very relaxing and healing."

"That sounds nice," Felix said while waiting for the doctor to begin. He could tell that there was something going on, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "Believe or not," he said while switching gears, "I've never been to Trill before. What's it like there?"

"It's beautiful," she said dreamily as she started her scans. "Of course, I may be biased. Mom and dad live in the country, right on a cliff next to the ocean. It's possible to beam directly there, but I usually go to a transport station and take one of the rail cars. It's more fun, I think, and it feels more like home that way."

"Sounds lovely," Felix said as the kind doctor waved her tricorder around him. The blinking lights lulled him into serenity as he'd seen the inside of many a med bay in his life. "Ever make it to New Orleans?" he asked.

"Once, just after the Starfleet Medical Licensing Exams," she replied. "Bourbon Street Snowcones! Oh, my goodness! We must have gotten three a night!"

"Sounds like a good time!" Felix said, chuckling. "My aunt Atlanta has a cafe down there, she gets quite a few musicians coming through weekly." He watched the doctor as she scanned him. "Anything interesting coming up on there?" he asked.

"Not really," she replied. "The usual. Everything in the target range for ideal, like most other starfleet officers. It's so unusual that people don't pass physicals, I almost want to save the records of those who don't. I might be able to write a 500 word essay on all of them."

"Oh, good," Felix said, relieved at apparently nothing. "I don't know why I was worrying about anything. It's just that sometimes you can get crazy thoughts that stick, ya know?"

"Oh good," Felix said while smiling. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of the doctor's face and provoke a smile, but he could see she was concentrating on her work. He quickly changed gears. "So, um, anything else of note happen while we were all away?"

Anything of note? Felix thought as he cringed. What are you, her English professor?

"Not that I can think of," she replied. "Oh, I ran into the newest host of Belar Kij's former mate. It was... interesting. Only chatted to him for about thirty seconds, but it was good to know she's well. He's well. Pol is a he this time around. That's confusing even to joined Trill," she admitted with a grin.

Felix smiled back, having a warm feeling when the doctor smiled. "I don't know how you keep track of those kinds of things," Felix said. "Seems like several lifetimes' worth of memories might be confusing."

"It can be at first," she admitted. "Once we adjust, though, it's almost second nature. It's pretty easy to remember who Kij was when he was an architect or farmer, or when she gave birth to Jonesh."

Felix nodded. "So," he said while noticing the ever-present scanner the doctor held, "if you don't mind me asking, how many lives has Kij lived?"

"Nine," she answered. "Admittedly, Gavara's life was cut rather short, but I've still learned a lot from her. Interestingly, I knew her in life, too. They don't normally give Symbionts to people who knew the previous host, but it was sort of an emergency. And now I understand why they don't; it's hard to think about her or explore her memories."

"Oh," said Felix, feeling strings of regret tightening around his insides, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up anything painful."

"It's all right," Jayla assured him. "Now that I'm actually allowing myself to deal with her, it hurts less every day. I wish I'd done it long ago, but I guess I'm not the first person to avoid a painful topic for years."

Felix smiled weakly. He knew all too well about avoiding painful topics. A pang of guilt made its presence known inside his chest. He tried his best to push it aside. "That's alright, Doc," he said, trying his best to sit still and have the scan finish. "Everything else been going okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied a little too quickly. "Yeah, everything else is all right. I'm feeling more normal every day, so I'd say that's a good sign, right?"

"Oh absolutely," Felix quickly replied, trying his best to be reassuring, "getting back to a sense of normalcy is healthy, I'd think." Felix grinned a bit out of the corner of his mouth. Jayla remained an enigma to him.

Unable to resist, she returned the grin with one of her old bright ones. There was something decidedly adorable about Felix that made her want to smile a lot. "Yeah, I image so," she replied. "It feels healthy, anyway. Which, by the way," she added, closing her tricorder. "Cleared for duty. Medically anyway," she added with a cheeky grin.

"Quite probably," she replied. "I mean, it's a big ship, but it's not all that big." She offered another cheeky grin.

"Good deal!" Felix said while offering one of his own. "Later, Doc!" He turned and exited the room. Being able to talk to someone on the ship felt good. He hoped she'd regain that sense of normalcy she said she wanted.